Play-pen crib combination



May 7, 1963 J. SEDLOCK PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 24, 1959 INVENTOR.

JACK SEDLOCK FIG. 2

y 7, 1963 J. SEDLOCK 3,088,1231

PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION Filed Dec. 24, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN'IORv JACK S EDLOC K y 7, 1963 J. SEDLOCK 3,088,131

PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION I Filed Dec. 24, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet s 53 INVENTOR. JACK SEDLOCK FIG. 8

United States Patent 3,088,131 PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBDIATION Jack Sedlock, 10276 Effen St., Cucamonga, Calif. Filed Dec. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 862,011 4 Claims. (Cl. -99) An object of the invention is to provide a better coordination of the different parts of the structure so that the play-pen will move from a folded to an unfolded position with mattress pad intact in a smoother, easier, quicker, and more satisfactory manner while serving as two products.

Another object of the invention is to provide a superior means for automatically folding and unfolding the side guard frames for keeping the mattress pad in place, when the play-pen is moved to land from its unfolded position. In this connection it is also an object of the invention to provide said guard frames with gates at the sides of the play-pen crib combination which can be vertically adjusted in a superior manner.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide safety locking means to hold the adjusted parts dependably in the proper relationship to each other.

It is also another and more specific object to provide a superior arrangement of controlled rods to coordinate properly the movements of various cooperating parts as the play-pen is moved from folded to unfolded position, and visa versa.

The mattress pad it carries is two sided, one side firmer, the other side softer for sleeping.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation with the play-pen crib combination in the extended or unfolded position, one of the side frames being in the lowered or partly open position, the other side frame being indicated by dotted lines, as in the fully raised or completely opened position.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation showing the play-pen crib combination partly open.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section of a side portion of the structure of the play-pen crib combination, the plane of section being indicated by the line 3-3- on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail on line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged reproduction of the upper lefthand portion of FIG. 1. 1

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a section on line 77 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a section on line 9--9 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a section on line 10-10 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a section on line 11 -11 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged reproduction of certain cam operated parts shown in the right hand part of FIG. 1 to control the movements of the side guard assemblies.

FIG. 13 is a section on line 13-43 of FIG. 12.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the main parts of play-pen crib combination are the upstanding, non-swingable end frame 7 having a foot piece 8 which carries the subjacent casters 9; the swingable mattress pad-supporting frame 10, to the opposite side portions of one foot of which are hinged the guard frame 11; the foot member 12; the paired movement-control rods 13 and .14; and the pair of tie rods 15.

'Ihe non-swingable end frame 7 is shown comprising a head board 16 which occupies about the upper half of the front end of the bed, being supported by and between the uprights 17. Spaced away from the uprights 17 toward the foot of the play-pen crib combination is the pair of auxiliary front uprights 18, the two pairs of 3,088,131 Patented May 7, 1963 "ice uprights being connected to each other by an intermediate front framework 19, which framework includes an angular base strip 20 at each side of the play-pen crib combination which is attached to both uprights and has an inwardly directed portion 21 which is in turn connected to the horizontal caster-carrying bar 22. The space between said auxiliary uprights 18 is left sufficiently clear to unobstruct swinging of the mattress pad supporting frame 10.

Describing next the mattress pad-supporting swingable frame 10 and its connections, said frame '10 has a base bar 23 along each side which is pivotally connected at 24 to the lower portions of the auxiliary uprights 18, said pivotal connection being close to the lower side of the frame 10 and much nearer to its front end than to its rear end.

When the mattress pad supporting frame 10 is in its completely downswung position it is releasably held against being upswung by means of a locking rod 25- which is slidably carried by the lower portion of said frame and which has .a laterally projecting end portion 26 near the front end of the downswung play-pen crib combination for the operator to grasp to retract said rod from its locked position against the opposition of its spring 27. Said rod has a laterally directed front end portion 25a connected to a locking pin 25b which cooperates with a seat 28 in a stationary locking element 29, and the locking element 29a is connected to the uprgiht 18 to hold the playpen crib combination frame 10 in the folded position.

The side portions of the mattress pad carrying frame 10 include bars 30 which are somewhat spaced away from the bars 23 and are connected with them by the end pieces 31 and by the intermediate pieces 32. The mattress pad-supporting frame is completed, 13S to its relatively fixed parts, by means of its front end piece 31 and its rear end piece 33.

Next will be described the mechanism whereby the guard frames 11 are automatically swung from a folded, low lying position to an unfolded upstanding position when the mattress pad supporting frame is lowered, said guard frames being automatically moved back by gravity and force to their original positions when the play-pen crib combination is again folded up. Each of the side guard frames 11 comprises a front to rear bar 35 swingable connected to the mattress pad supporting frame by hinges 36 and 37. Considering positions of parts with the play-pen crib combination down, the rear end portion of said bar 35 carries an upstanding guard member 38 and near its front end carries an upstanding front guard member 39, the bar having a forwardly projecting end portion 40 beyond said member 39 which carries an angular projecting operating arm 41. Said operating arm 41 is acted upon by a horizontal cam bar 42 which extends athwart and forms a part of the lower portion of the non-swingable frame 7, the lowering of the play-pen crib combination causing said arm 41 to engage the lower side of said bar 42 in a sliding manner and to swing the frame 11 up so that, by the time the swingable portion of the play-pen crib combination has been fully lowered the said guard frames 11 have been swung to vertical positions. When the play-pen crib combination is swung into a folded position the arm 41 will register into the hooked member 41a to hold the bed in a folded position and the shield member 41b is positioned in alinement to protect the pin 41a from being damaged when operated by said cam bar 42.

Each of said guard frames 11 carries an adjustable gate comprising a rectangular frame 43 and panel rods 44, 45. Each of said gates has its upper corner portions pivotally connected with two runner blocks 46 one of which slides in a grove 47 in the aforesaid member 38 and the other of which slides in a groove 48 in the member 39. The

pair of hooked members 39a are secured on the upright 18 and the front guard member (FIG. 10) to hold the guard frame 11 in an upright locked condition, when the play-pen crib combination is in a lowered position.

Each gate frame 43 is therefore both swingable and vertically adjustable when the play-pen crib combination is down. Also when fully raised it rests upon the adjacent side of the mattress pad supporting frame.

Said grooves 47 and 48 are both of the same pattern and are slightly inclined so as to bring their lower ends (with the play-pen crib combination down) a little farther from the midwidth of the play-pen crib combination, this is donein order to cause the lowered gate frames 43 to remain substantially vertical.

In order to lock the aforesaid gates in their elevated positions one (already mentioned) panel rod 45 see FIG. 8) is arranged to slide slightly in a socket 50 and the bore 51 in the gate, the rod carrying at its lower end a locking pin 53 which cooperates with a socket in the mattress pad supporting frame. When this rod is slightly raised against the opposition of a spring 54 the pin 53 is withdrawn from said socket permitting the lower edge of the gate to be swung outwardly clear of the mattress pad supporting frame, whereupon the gate may be lowered from the dotted line to the full line position of FIG. 1, and owing to the inclination of the grooves 47 and 48 will remain substantially vertical when in its fully lowered position. i

The paired movement coordinating rods 13 have their upper ends pivoted to the mattress pad supporting frame at 55 and lower ends pivoted to the foot piece 12 at 56; while the paired movement coordinated rods 14 have their upper ends pivoted to the mattress pad supporting frame at 57 and their lower ends pivoted to the foot piece at 58. Auxiliary paired movement coordinatingrods or tie rods 15 are provided having their upper ends pivotally con-I nected with the aforesaid rods 13 in a spaced relation to the upper ends of the latter rods, said rods 15 having their lower ends connected by means of swingable links 61 which are pivotally carried by the caster-carrying bar 22.

A pair of spiral traction springs 62 have their lower ends anchored to the lower portion of the mattress pad supporting frame at 63 and their upper ends looped around the rods 13 at 64, at points spaced away from the upper ends of said rods. These springs counteract considerably the weight of the frame 10 and so aids the operator in raising and lowering said frame.

When the mattress pad-supporting frame 10is in the fully upswung position it is stabilized in that position by means of said obtusely bent holding arm 41a with which cooperates said pin 41 carried by each side portion of said frame 10 near its front end.

A little before the mattress pad supporting frame reaches its completely lowered position the guard frames 11 become fully outswung in relation to said frame. Consequently the catch arms 67 (FIG. carried by the guard frames enter eyes 68 carried by the foot member 12 as the mattress pad supporting frame completes its downward travel, said eyes safeguarding said frames 11 against forces tending to outswing them.

It will be seen that when the mattress pad supporting frame is down the upper pair of movement-coordinating rods 13 extends in a closely parallel adjacent relation to the lower side of the mattress pad supporting, frame and the lower pair of movement-coordinating rods 14 has its attachment to said frame located at points spaced forwardly of the front end of said pair of rods 13. Also, the springs 62 are attached to the rods 13 at points sufficiently spaced away from the attachments of said rod to the mattress pad supporting frame to enable said springs effectively to counter-balance the weight of the mattress pad supporting frame so that the raising and lowering thereof requires but little effort on the part of the operator. The arrangement of the movement coordinating rods and the tie rods which has been described has been found to be very satisfactory in practice and is deemed to be an' advance step in the art to which this invention pertains.

In view of the foregoing description the operation of the play-pen crib combination will be readily understood, but it may be helpful to note a few particulars thereof.

Many of the parts which have been described are duplicated at opposite side portions of the play-pen crib combination but only one release rod 25 is provided, which operator will retract by means of its knob 26 preparatory to folding up the play-pen crib combination.

As to the trick release rod 45 at each side of the play-pen which locks the swin'gable gate portion of the guard frame '11 in its upraised position, when children use the. play-pen crib combination they cannot distinguish this red from the other panel rods and so cannot release the gate against the wish of the attendant.

The claims may be judged individually, but the interrelationship of all claims is necessary to make for a unique over all operation of the device.

The spring lift is so designed to give proper strength so it can lift the load and at the same time fold the guard frames in from the side and counteract the drag of the side gates.

The guard frames present quite a drag and without this long spring lift stretching from the center of the mattress pad-supporting frame to its furthest rear or bottom point, you cannot get the proper strengthto lift the load. In a full-sized play pen crib combination or crib, the guard frame must fold over because of their height when they are in an unfolded position.

I claim:

1. In a folding play-pen crib combination the combination, with a nonswingable upstanding front frame, a swingable mattress pad-supporting frame and a foot board member, of an upper pair and :a lower pair of movementcoordinating rods each of said rods having one end pivoted to saidfootboard member and its opposite end pivoted to said mattress pad-supporting frame, all of said rodsextendinglengthwise of said mattress pad-supporting frame when the latter is in its down-swung. position at whichtimesaid upper rods extend in a closely parallel subjacent relation to the lower side of said mattress padsupporting frame and said lower pair of rods are attached at their rear ends to said foot board member at points spaced downwardly fromsaid upper pair of rods and the front end of said lower pair of. rods are attached to the lower side'portion of said mattress pad-supporting frame forwardly of the front ends of said upper pair of the front ends of said upper pair of rods; and a pair of tie rods having their upper ends pivoted to said upper pair of rods adjacent to the midlength of the latter rods, the opposite endof said pair of tie rods being pivotally connected with the lower part of the aforesaid nonswingable frame; and side guard frames, each comprising afrontto-rear bar swingably connected to the mattress pad-supporting frame by hinges, said bar having a forwardly projecting end portion which carries an angularly projecting operating arm, said operating arm being acted upon by cam means which is carried by the lower portion of the non-swingable frame, the lowering of the play-pen crib combination causing said operating arm to engage said cams means in a sliding manner and to thereby swing the side guard frames up so that, by the time the swingable portion of the play-pen crib combination has been fully lowered, said side guard frames have been swung into vertical positions.

2. Apparatusas defined in claim 1, including tension coil spring means having one end attached to the lower front part of said mattress pad-supporting frame and having its'opposite end attached to said upper pair of rods at a sufficient distance from their connection with said mattress pad-supporting frame to enable said spring means effectively to counterbalance and guide the movement of said mattress pad-supporting frame and at the same time producing enough force to substantially counteract the drag of said side guard frames.

3. In a folding bed construction, an end frame, a main frame pivotally connected with said end frame, at least one side guard frame pivotally secured to said main frame, said side guard frame being positioned to aid in keeping bed covers in place, a protruding operating arm rigidly carried by said side guard frame and cam means rigidly carried by said end frame positioned for slidable cooperation with said operating arm whereby the swinging of said main frame into an operative position causes said protruding operating arm to effectively slidably engage said cam means and to thereby swing said side guard frame into an upright position with relation to said main frame and whereby the reverse movement of said main frame reverses said action and causes said side guard frame to assume a folded position with relation to said main frame.

4. In a folding bed construction, an end frame, a main frame pivotally connected with said end frame, two laterally spaced side guard frames, each having an edge portion which is hinged to an opposite edge of said main frame, each of said side guard frames being positioned to aid in keeping bed covers in place, two protruding operating arms rigidly carried by the corresponding ones of the two side guard frames and two cam means rigidly carried by said end frame in corresponding positions for correlated differently timed slidable cooperation with the corresponding different ones of said protruding operating arms whereby the swinging of said main frame into an operative position causes said protruding operating arms to effectively slidably engage the corresponding ones of said cam means in correlated differently timed relationship and to thereby swing said side guard frames, in a correlated manner which is a function of the difference in the relationship of the two dilferent pairs of slidably engaged protruding arm and cam means, into fully open vertical positions with relation to said main frame, and whereby the reverse movement of said main frame reverses said action and causes said side guard frames to correlatedly fold downwardly into superimposed folded relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 801,658 Fuller Oct. 10, 1905 941,879 Jeficott Nov. 30, 1909 997,284 Fuller July 11, 1911 1,922,503 Sedlock Aug. 15, 1933 2,369,834 Lundin Feb. 20, 1945 2,442,048 Kroll et al. May 25, 1948 2,663,032 Giuseffi Dec. 22, 1953 

1. IN A FOLDING PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION THE COMBINATION, WITH NONSWINGABLE UPSTANDING FRONT FRAME, A SWINGABLE MATTRESS PAD-SUPPORTING FRAME AND A FOOT BOARD MEMBER, OF AN UPPER PAIR AND A LOWER PAIR OF MOVEMENTCOORDINATING RODS EACH OF SAID RODS HAVING ONE END PIVOTED TO SAID FOOTBOARD MEMBER AND ITS OPPOSITE END PIVOTED TO SAID MATRESS PAD-SUPPORTING FRAME, ALL OF SAID RODS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF SAID MATTRESS PAD-SUPPORTING FRAME WHEN THE LATTER IS IN ITS DOWN-SWUNG POSITION AT WHICH TIME SAID UPPER RODS EXTEND IN A CLOSELY PARALLEL SUBJACENT RELATION TO THE LOWER SIDE OF SAID MATTRESS PADSUPPORTING FRAME AND SAID LOWER PAIR OF RODS ARE ATTACHED AT THEIR REAR ENDS TO SAID FOOT BOARD MEMBER AT POINTS SPACED DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID UPPER PAIR OF RODS AND THE FRONT END OF SAID LOWER PAIR OF RODS ARE ATTACHED TO THE LOWER SIDE PORTION OF SAID MATTRESS PAD-SUPPORTING FRAME FORWARDLY OF THE FRONT ENDS OF SAID UPPER PAIR OF THE FRONT ENDS OF SAID UPPER PAIR OF RODS; AND A PAIR OF TIE RODS HAVING THEIR UPPER ENDS PIVOTED TO SAID UPPER PAIR OF RODS ADJACENT TO THE MIDLENGTH OF THE LATTER RODS, THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID PAIR OF TIE RODS BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED WITH THE LOWER PART OF THE AFORESAID NONSWINGABLE FRAME; AND SIDE GUARD FRAMES, EACH COMPRISING A FRONTTO-REAR BAR SWINGABLY CONNECTED TO THE MATTRESS PAD-SUPPORTING FRAME BY HINGES, SAID BAR HAVING A FORWARDLY PROJECTING END PORTION WHICH CARRIES AN ANGULARLY PROJECTING OPERATING ARM, SAID OPERATING ARM BEING ACTED UPON BY CAM MEANS WHICH IS CARRIED BY THE LOWER PORTION OF THE NON-SWINGABLE FRAME, THE LOWERING OF THE PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION CAUSING SAID OPERATING ARM TO ENGAGE SAID CAMS MEANS IN A SLIDING MANNER AND TO THEREBY SWING THE SIDE GUARD FRAMES UP SO THAT, BY THE TIME THE SWINGABLE PORTION OF THE PLAY-PEN CRIB COMBINATION HAS BEEN FULLY LOWERED, SAID SIDE GUARD FRAMES HAVE BEEN SWUNG INTO VERTICAL POSITIONS. 